MOVIE BOOKS I LOVE: "FROM SCARFACE TO SCARLETT" BY ROGER DOOLEY

This is an occasional series featuring my favorite movie books. Before TCM and the internet, the only way to satisfy my passion to know more about Classic Hollywood was through books, books and more books. I've cleared away the clutter over the years, but many remain permanent residents in my home. You'd never throw out an old friend, now, would you?

I don't know about you, but I really hate how each new book, celebrity, movie, song, anything is instantly labeled fabulous, the best, amazing, great - only to be surpassed by tomorrow's new thing and lie discarded and forgotten a week later. "From Scarface to Scarlett: American Films in the 1930s" by Roger Dooley is, without exaggeration, a truly fabulous, great and amazing book. And I'm not kidding. I've been saying this since its publication in 1981 (actually 1979, with an update in 1981).

"The 1930s were the golden age of film, don't you agree, Clark?"
"Why, yes, Joan, I most certainly do!"

"From Scarface to Scarlett" is a trip through the great movie decade of the 1930s. And it's a trip on the local, not the express. Think back, if you can to the dark ages of 1981 - no Turner Classic Movies, no internet. This makes Roger Dooley's work even more impressive. 

The book is divided into 14 mammoth sections, with corresponding subsections that are witty and insightful and chock full of descriptions of films ranging from the famous to the obscure. In a remarkable acheivement, the author personally screened almost five thousand films in a journey from television, revival houses to museums. There are facts galore, and fine criticism, but what makes this book so much fun is that Dooley writes like a real fan. A scholarly and knowledgeable one, to be sure, but a fan first and foremost. His love for the films and the stars and the era jumps off of every page. Dooley clearly considers the 1930s the apex of the studio and star system:


"In between came those ten phenomenal years that seem ever more incredible as they recede in time. Granted that then the movies were a giant industry, whose aim was to make the biggest profit by pleasing the widest public, the wonder is how many really fine pictures were produced within, or in spite of, the system. Even the most routine "B" films still show an un-self-conscious verve, pace and vitality, a crisp professionalism all too seldom seen today; dialogue is fast but clearly spoken, scenes make their point and end. The very speed of the shooting schedules left little time for self-indulgent writers, director or stars."


Here's a very small sampling (all sub-sections contain so many more references that are impossible to list here) to whet your appetite:


SECTION 1: Just Picture a Penthouse: Love Among the Millionaires
1. O Mistress Mine: Ladies with a Past
Films in this category include "Bed of Roses," "Shopworn," "Possessed," and "Camille." 

Constance Bennett and Joel McCrea in "Bed of Roses"

2. Puttin' on the Ritz: The Gold Diggers of 1930-1939.
Films in this category include "Red Headed Woman," "Girls About Town," "The Greeks Had a Word for Them," all of the Gold Digger films, and "42nd Street." 

Kay Francis and Lilyan Tashman in the outrageous "Girls About Town"

3. Happily Ever After: Cinderella Romances.
Films include "Sadie McKee," "Hot Saturday," "Page Miss Glory," and "Midnight."
4. Vivacious Ladies: Working Girl Comedies.
Films include "The Gilded Lily," Hands Across the Table," "Bachelor Mother," and "Theodora Goes Wild."

Ginger Rogers, Charles Coburn, Elbert Coplen, Jr.,
and David Niven in "Bachelor Mother"

5. With Plenty of Money and You: Heiress, Madcap, Headstrong, Footloose and Runaway.
Films include "It Happened One Night," "My Man Godfrey," "Libeled Lady," and "Bringing Up Baby."
6. Scene- Drawing Room, Late Afternoon: Comedies of Manners from the Stage.
Films include "Our Betters," "Topaze," "The Women," and "When Ladies Meet."


SECTION 7: CRIME AND PUNISHMENT: Cops and Robbers
1. "Aw Right You Guys!": The Gang's All Here.
Films include "Little Caesar," "The Public Enemy," "Scarface," and "The Roaring Twenties."

Paul Muni and Ann Dvorak in "Scarface."

2. Innocent Bystanders: Women and Children First.
Films include "Woman Wanted," "Mary Burns, Fugitive," "You Only Live Once," and "Ann Vickers."
3. Around the Law in Eighty Ways: Shysters, Mouthpieces and Ambulance Chasers.
Films include "A Free Soul," "The Mouthpiece," "Lawyer Man," and Counsellor-at-Law."

Warren William and "clients" in "The Mouthpiece"

4. Law and Order: The Enforcers.
Films include "The Great O'Malley," "G-Men," "Counterfeit," and "Show Them No Mercy."

James Cagney on the right side of the law in "G-Men"

5. "I'm Bustin' Out": Our Fettered Friends.
Films include "The Big House," "I am a Fugitive," "20,000 Year in Sing Sing," and "Each Dawn I Die."


These are just two sections! Other sections, with endlessly entertaining sub-sections, include:
● The Plot Thickens: Intrigue, Boudoir and Otherwise
● Remembrance of Things Past: Wistful Glances Past
● Long Ago and Far Away: Escapes Still Further into the Past
● The White Man's Burden: Imperialism, Hollywood Style
● Nice Work If You Can Get It: Occupational Hazards
● Blood Will Tell: The Nonprofessionals
● The Light Fantastic: Flights of Fancy, Musical and Otherwise
● The Show Must Go On: Behind the Scenes
● People Like Us: Everyday Folks - More or Less
● In Times Like These: Films of Ideas
● Over the Rainbow: 1939 - The Best of Everything - Almost


Is your brain churning, trying to figure out in which chapter your favorite 1930s film will appear? The book is filled with wonderful stills from films you don't see every day (not even on TCM) and a more than complete glossary of titles and another or persons. What more could a movie lover ask for? It has been a treasure trove of information for me and an endless source of delight. The binding is a little cracked and the pages worn and a bit worse for the wear, but all of these "blemishes" are proof of the love I have for this wonderful book.

Fiddle de dee this is a great book!

I notice that this book is available on Amazon and at other outlets for a ridiculously wide range of prices. If you do decide to locate it, all I can say is enjoy!